Friday, February 20, 2009

Photos, as promised

First off, I'd like to say that Becca is doing much better. She was still running a high fever all morning, but then took a nap for several hours and woke up with almost no fever at all. Looking back, I'm thinking she had some sort of gastrointestinal bug since she threw up a couple of times, had diarrhea (as did Miriam), and has a really bad diaper rash. She is asleep right now, and it is the first night this entire week that she is sleeping without being held. The last two nights have been nothing short of torture, with her waking every half hour or so, crying and wanting to be held and walked. My husband and I took turns caring for her, but still, it was very hard. Looks like we will finally get a good night's rest tonight. Thank you to all who prayed for my little girl. It's so nice to see her smiling again today!

Play with your food

I made these for breakfast last week, and they were surprisingly quick and easy. There is a dog, a butterfly, and a flower. The kids had a lot of fun with this, too.

Sisters

Miriam LOVES Rebecca. She is always trying to mother her, sometimes a little bit too much so. Here they are lying together in my bed. I love how Becca's little foot is sticking out from under the sheets. Miriam picked her own outfit. She loves the little jumper that her Grandma made for her, so much so that she wants to wear it every day, even if it clashes with the striped shirt she also loves to wear.

My lemonade stand

Not quite, but almost. The tree on the right is our lemon tree, and it is one good reason why I love our house. Right now, it has about 200 or more lemons on it, and it's so nice to be able to walk out, pick a few, juice them and make fresh lemonade, ice-tea, lemon bars, or whatever other yummy treat. The lemons keep on the tree for months, in fact, I am hoping they will last until next winter when the new crop will be ripe. We'll see how they do over the summer in the heat. My "lawn", on the other hand, is in bad shape. It always dies in the winter, since I don't put out "winter grass". Ah well.

Benny Hinn

This is John, dressed up as Benny Hinn. Don't ask me why he did it, he's just weird like that. Not sure what's up with the safety goggles and the cook's hat, either.

Sweet, sweet, sweet baby

I've said it before, I will say it again: Rebecca is the perfect baby. Not that all our kid's aren't perfect, but she is perfect AND easy. And always so happy. She even smells sweet. Awww, I hope we can have many more babies, especially if they are all like her.

John's belated birthday cake

John's birthday was in December. I forget why, but I never got around to making a cake for his birthday, something he has been reminding me of ever since. Last week I finally made the rocket cake he had requested, to go with the astronaut costume that he got as a present.

Trip to the Arizona Science Center

My husband and I took the kids on a field trip to the Arizona Science Center last Wednesday. We were having so much fun I forgot to take pictures, but I did take these of my husband playing house with Miriam. It was too cute the way that they were pretending to be washing and eating the vegetables. My husband truly is such a wonderful Dad, and I am so happy for our children that they have him. At age 27, he is a father of five, the pastor of a church, the owner of a company, and in general a very smart and successful guy, but he can get right on the kids' level and act like one of them. Besides all that, I think he is also very handsome and funny. And I am one very lucky, happy, and spoilt wife.

"cute but weird" is John's middle name. He has recently renamed himself "Abraham" because "John" was just not biblical enough for him. Go figure. When strangers ask him what his name is, he replies "Abraham" without even hesitating for a second. The fastest way to get him to do something is to say, "Abraham, could you do such-and-such, please?"

Winter grass is a type of grass that people sow in the fall and it comes up during the winter months when the regular grass is dead. It is very warm here in Phoenix, we never have frost (well, maybe once every decade or so), but the grass still goes through the normal cycle of dying and turning brown for a few months. People who care about their lawn (that's me) and know about gardening (that's NOT me) keep their lawns looking lush and green year-round. But alas, it is impossible to have a nice lawn AND care for five children.

I am 29 but (aaarrrgggghhh) turning 30 next month. Now THAT is old. My husband has been teasing me a lot, since he is 2 years younger. I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. The postpartum hair loss isn't helping my disposition, either. Other than that, he really is a great catch. Nicest guy I ever met, I just HAD to marry him.

I'm also older than my husband and he's also great with kids too. I really don't understand fathers who don't get involved with their childrenI had another look into watermarking for you and found this websitehttp://picmarkr.com/

I am not sure if that will help you or not. I am assuming that you are using the basic stuff on blogger as there is some stuff that you can add into the html too. Someone else mentioned that you can disable right click but if someone is net savvy, it's very easy to disable the right click function

Glad to hear that the kids are all well again. I'm sorry to hear that you had a rough couple of nights with the babe, it's awful when they are sick and can't tell you what they want and all they want is cuddles. Cuddles are fine of course but not constantly at 2am :D

I'm so happy to hear that the baby is feeling better and you and your hubby have been able to get some much needed rest!

I loved that picture of John a.k.a. Abraham in the Benny Hinn get up. That got me to chuckling. How does he know who Benny Hinn is? That man is doing more to deter people being saved!!

I like you have been blessed with a wonderful husband and I know he will make a wonderful and very involved father. He was the "father" to his niece and nephew that had a absent father.

We have decided to increase the number of foster children we are going to take in to 3 and reserve one space for a child that we will be able to adopt. Our resource worker has informed us we are also one of two families they are looking at for adoption of a 5 yr old girl. We are praying that we are chosen if it is the Lord's will. We are anxious to become parents! I'm looking forward to posting stories like yours on my blog! Of course I'm not quite as creative as you but I don't think you'll mind if I copy some of your ideas!!

Rebecca is an absolutely adorable baby! Her smile is is just precious!

You have created a fun environment for your children but retained the discipline and structure that children need. If we had more homes like that our society would not be in the predicament that it is in!

One more thing, 30 isn't bad at all! I passed that mark 17 years ago. Forty was harder (because I wanted to be married and have a family and didn't have that at the time) I'll be 47 in April and I'm just now starting a family after being married 4 years. It may not be the natural way as I wanted but obviously, this is the Lord's will not mine. I'm just as excited about adopting too!

About Me

I am the wife of a hard-working pastor and a stay-at-home Mom to our nine wonderful kids - Solomon (15), Isaac (14), John (12), Miriam (10), Rebecca (8), Anna (6), Stephen (5), Boaz (3), and Chloe (1).
We spend our days learning, working, playing, and putting out all kinds of fires as we serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Read all about the good, the bad, and the ugly days right here on my blog.

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Solomon (15)

Typical firstborn. Very intelligent and logical. Loves to talk. Likes for things to be "right" and organized. Very honest and fair. Exceptional musical talent. Great helper with younger siblings. Very kind and loving.

Isaac (14)

Loves anything to do with being outdoors: riding bikes, hiking, camping, caring for animals, exploring, horseback riding, etc. Very reliable and polite. My "Mr. Fix-It" man. Never ever complains. Tough, but has a very tender heart. Devours books at incredible speed.

John (12)

Our quirky child. Funny and artistic. Precocious and empathetic. Loving older brother to his younger siblings. A bit of daredevil.

Miriam (10)

Beautiful and sweet. Kind and mothering with her younger siblings. Loves being by my side 24/7. My big helper. Has a great sense of style.

Rebecca (8)

Full of energy. Smart and mischievous in a very loveable way. Very tidy. Loves to help with anything she can. Dotes on her younger siblings. Daddy's girl, bookworm.

Anna (6)

Sweet girly girl. Loves pretend playing with her siblings and her dollies. Wants to be a big girl like her sisters. Tenderhearted.

Stephen (5)

Full of energy. Loves to climb onto anything. Wild and rambunctious. All boy, and always happy. A smaller version of his dad, with whom he shares his name and birthday.

Boaz (3)

This little guy is an extra special blessing after a complicated twin pregnancy. Mellow and easy-going. Chatterbox. Smart cookie with a heart of gold.

Chloe (1)

Currently the youngest member of our family. A precious little doll that brightens all of our lives. Smiles, coos, gives kisses, and brings joy every day.